Title: Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook the World
Author: Scott McCormick
Narrators: Sean Patrick Hopkins, Kevin T. Colins, Gabriel Vaughan, Cary Hite, Khristine Hvam, Margaret Ying Drake, Eddy Lee, Feodor Chin
Series: Rivals! #3
Genre: Nonfiction, History
Length: 3 hrs 11 mins
Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook the World takes us back in history to discuss the lives of six different pirates: Stede Bonnet, Anne Bonney, Mary Read, Jean and Pierre Lafitte, and Ching Shih.
This was a fascinating look at some pirate history. Stede Bonnet, known as the gentleman pirate, was a fascinating and clueless man who somehow was successful as a pirate. He even met Blackbeard which is crazy for how bad of a sailor/pirate he was. The Lafitte brothers had a fascinating history as well. I never realized that a couple of pirates and smugglers had helped America win the War of 1812.
I really enjoyed the history of Anne Bonney, Mary Read, and Ching Shih though. These women didn’t hide their gender on the seas and were pretty successful, especially Ching Shih. I found the pirating history of China fascinating because I didn’t even know that piracy had been a problem at one point. Ching Shih was a woman ahead of her times and was a mastermind. I loved how she took over and brought prosperity to her pirates, and she lived to tell her grandkids about it.
While this volume did have the over-the-top production that the previous book did, this one was more streamlined and actually flowed with the information better. It wasn’t distracting or off putting for a change, so it is getting better.
Overall, this was a fascinating look at the history of piracy and I really want to learn about the women who were featured in this one.
Previous books and reviews for the series:
Red-Haired Ash Reads 